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Proceedings

Out of Print

General notes:

Copies of the papers presented at, or published for DCC are available in
various ways. A paper printed in the proceedings will be available for
purchase in most cases in hard copy as the DCC proceedings. It will in
most cases also be available as an individual paper in PDF format as a
free download via a link below the abstract (where available) It may
also be available on CD-ROM. A paper printed in the proceedings may not
have been presented at the conference. Also a presentation at DCC may
not be in the printed proceedings. In those cases it may be available
on DVD, CD-ROM or as a MP3 download. Links to what is available will be
on the page specific to the particular year's DCC.

Abstract:
On 21 August 2017, a total solar eclipse will cause the shadow of the moon to
traverse the United States from Oregon to South Carolina in just over 90 minutes.
The sudden absence of sunlight due to the eclipse, especially solar UV and x-rays,
provides an impulse function to the upper atmosphere that modifies the neutral
dynamics, plasma concentrations, and related properties. In spite of more than
60 years of research, open questions remain regarding eclipse-induced ionospheric
impacts. Ham radio operators. advanced technical skills and inherent interest in
ionospheric science make the amateur radio community ideal for contributing to
and and participating in large-scale ionospheric sounding experiments. This paper
describes the Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP), the HF Wideband Recording
Experiment, and the Eclipse Frequency Measurement Test (FMT), three amateur
radio experiments designed to study the 2017 total solar eclipse. These experiments
are coordinated by HamSCI, the Ham radio Science Citizen Investigation,
a citizen science organization that connects the amateur radio community to the
professional space science research community for mutual benefit.

Abstract:
A new TNC has been developed by John Wiseman, G8BPQ, for the Raspberry Pi. Using the
same form factor as the Pi and the existing TNC-Pi2, also developed by John, a new
device was made that gives the Raspberry Pi and any packet applications that run on
the Raspberry Pi operating systems, the capability to transfer data at new higher
speeds, while still being affordable for most hams. This paper discusses the hardware
and software issues of this new device as well as presenting detailed data on high
speed (for amateur radio) data transfer tests.

Abstract:
HamSCI.s goal is to construct a symbiotic relationship between the formal research
community and the Amateur Radio community. To facilitate this transfer of knowledge
HamSCI must pioneer technologies that allow scientists to easily obtain and
understand Amateur Radio data. This task necessitates the creation of warehousing and
visualization facilities that allow scientists to easily understand and make use of
our data sets. We are currently testing a database and visualization toolkit designed
to handle our existing 2 billion-record long QSO log. This data set represents a
compiled version of data gathered by the Reverse Beacon Network, WSPRNet, and
PSKReporter. Our goal is to build a robust, fast, and queryable front end to the
massive, and currently underutilized, data sources created by Amateur Radio
operators.

Abstract:
Over the past 10 years, the High Performance Software Designed Radio project has
moved from the early attempt of producing an audio interface and a USB interface to a
sophisticated single board single FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). In this
process, the communication protocol and the software tools to manage that process
have changed several times. Some of the reason things are organized in certain ways
are an artifact of the history of the changes. This paper will chronical these
changes and some of the resulting software that allow the loading and replacement of
the firmware in the radio boards.

Abstract:
In 2018 Es.Hail-2, the first satellite to provide Amateur Radio Service from
Geostationary Orbit will be launched from Florida. The satellite.s narrowband
and wideband transponders will cover about 1/3 of the globe. Most two-way
amateur to amateur communication will take place through the satellite.s narrowband
linear transponder. This paper explores means to expoit the satellite.s
wideband transponder to provide two-way digital voice communications with
the aid of a DVB-S2 repeater located at a relatively large earth station on the
ground. This mode could provide digital voice and data service between modestly
equipped stations while paving the way for the digital satellite based repeaters
that are planned for future AMSAT satellites.
KW = DVB-S2. Repeater, Satellite

Abstract:
This paper presents our methodology for simulating the upcoming total solar eclipse
that will be taking place on August 21, 2017. By taking advantage of a
high-performance distributed computing cluster as well as a number of third-party
scientific computing libraries we were able to efficiently simulate a large
number of HF amateur radio contacts before, during, and after the upcoming eclipse.
The data generated from the simulations allows us to peek into how the amateur radio
community and radio propagation as a whole will be affected in preparation for the
actual eclipse.
Keywords: eclipse, ionosphere, propagation, simulation

Abstract:
Recent work in many fields involves use of technologies of interest to or popularized
by radio amateurs. The low-cost, light weight, and low power demands of simple
Software Defined Radios (SDRs) in particular have led to new capabilities in many
fields. When combined with the processing power of small development boards such as
Raspberry Pi and Arduino and the platform mobility provided by relatively affordable
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) new areas of application appear. This paper
discusses the recent testing of a system intended to assist the tracking of invasive
carp species in the Mississippi river. It may also have potential for use in the 144
MHz band (or elsewhere) for .fox hunting., tracking sources of interference, and
similar purposes.
Keywords: Tracking, UAV, RTL-SDR